Start Licensing’s Ian Downes is dropping some hints for Christmas gifts this week.
BBC Children in Need is one of the most prominent and noteworthy examples of ‘charitable’ licensing – the annual event always seems to attract an interesting range of product and promotional partners including some which are licensing deals. Clearly it is a high profile event with a major media platform coupled with a lot of celebrity glitz and glamour. A strong and compelling combination.
However as an ‘annual’ event it must be hard to come up with new ideas and products with which to engage the public (and retailers). A year is also a long and short time at retail – it is hard to keep coming back with a new story.
One Children in Need product that caught my eye this week was in Gregg’s – some very well crafted Ring Buns featuring Pudsey and Blush. These were really good examples of NPD in the bakery category, adding value to a standard category and it was also good to see a retailer such as Gregg’s featuring ‘character’ products. The products are part of a range of activities run by Gregg’s in aid of BBC Children in Need – they have obviously got a winning formula as they have raised nearly £7 million for the charity. That’s a lot of buns!
Christmas drives a lot of NPD in licensing with a heavy emphasis on gifting, of course. Categories that are normally quite flat in licensing terms come alive in the run up to Christmas.
The personal care and toiletries category is a good example of this. This is a category that was really strong for licensing in the children’s category in particular ten or so years ago, with lots of 3D bubble bath products being sold alongside branded products. But as price and brand became more significant (children’s) character licensing seemed to be lose market share.
However, Christmas gifting brings different dynamics. Some really good examples of licensed product are on shelf at the moment. An old favourite – the 3D blow moulded bubble bath ‘figurine’ is back.
Sainsbury’s have a very striking Incredible Hulk on sale. Happy Jackson is in the mix as well, with gift sets such as Nail & Lip Care Kits using their signature design colours and witty text – ‘You Nailed It Babe!’ and ‘Eek! I Gotta Snag!’ – this is a really good example of custom development fitting your licence into a category in as appropriate a way as possible.
Added value is to the fore in the category, with a good example being The Secret Life of Pets gift set that has bubble bath co-packed with a character identified wash mitt. While brands have proved to be stiff competition, it is interesting to see brands embracing licensing in the category.
Gillette have combined forces with Star Wars Rogue One to create a gift pack. I suppose this is a further example of the power of Star Wars and its reach beyond the ‘standard’ licensing categories. As mentioned before, hopefully Star Wars will be a great recruiting sergeant for licensing and companies like Gillette will now be looking for the next licensing brand to use.
The toiletries gift category is a great example of how licensing and licensees have had to adapt their offer in response to competition and market dynamics.
Kellogg’s have reinforced their commitment to licensing by launching two cereal products featuring the latest Disney movie, Moana. These products are being marketed in branded FSDUs and must be part of a long-term ongoing deal between Disney and Kellogg’s which ensures there is a constant throughput of new content. A planned approach to licensing.
This is also a reminder of the fact that film licensing and promotion is still an important part of the licensing landscape and that in certain categories ‘global’ deals are more and more the norm.
The FSDU I saw was half full which suggests the product is proving popular, but also shows how hard it is to keep product in stock and maximise the benefit of the investment in dedicated POS materials. Best laid plans and all that.
One licensed brand that seems to be getting more and more traction at retail is the Volkswagen brand. As we all know, the mother brand has experienced significant problems but this doesn’t seem to have slowed down the licensing programme.
Recent highlights in product terms have been a Remote Control Camper Van – positioned and packaged for the Christmas ‘gift’ market; a good use of the licence in a very appropriate category. More surprising was seeing VW in the bedding category. Licensee Ashley Wilde have created a really interesting design using some of the iconic shapes and devices associated with the brand. They are tapping into the lifestyle aspect of the VW brand and seem to have leveraged the brand really well.
I think the bedding is a great move for the brand and may be the precursor to other deals in the home furnishings category. It may also open up categories like bedding to different types of licensing.
Finally if you are buying a gift for a football fan I would give a shout out to the personalised version of The Ladybird Book of Football – an online product – this is a really smart idea and a great use of a classic publishing licence.
Personalisation is a real way of adding value to a gift and giving a second or third life to IP. I expect to see more licensing activity in this category and it is a category where licensing can make a real difference.
Ian is spelt with one I by the way…
Ian Downes runs Start Licensing, an independent brand licensing agency. His Twitter handle is @startlicensing – he would welcome your suggestions for what to look out for.
